(In)formalization and the civilizing process : applying the work of Norbert Elias to housing-based anti-social behaviour interventions in the UK

POWELL, Ryan and FLINT, John F (2009). (In)formalization and the civilizing process : applying the work of Norbert Elias to housing-based anti-social behaviour interventions in the UK. Housing, Theory and Society, 26 (3), 159-178.

Abstract

This paper uses Norbert Elias's theory of the civilizing process to examine trends in social conduct in the UK and to identify how problematic “anti‐social” behaviour is conceptualized and governed through housing‐based mechanisms of intervention. The paper describes how Elias's concepts of the formalization and informalization of conduct and the construction of established and outsider groups provide an analytical framework for understanding social relations. It continues by discussing how de‐civilizing processes are also evident in contemporary society, and are applied to current policy discourse around Respect and anti‐social behaviour. The paper uses the governance of “anti‐social” conduct through housing mechanisms in the UK to critique the work of Elias and concludes by arguing that a revised concept of the civilizing process provides a useful analytical framework for future studies.